Strengths and Weaknesses
by Bagpuss
Summary: First CSI fan fic, I know more or less where it's going (GS), please R&R so I know what you think
1. Chapter 1

Strengths and Weaknesses  
  
Chapter One  
"Didn't I tell you?" Sara crowed as she and Warrick stood outside the interrogation room.  
"Yeah, well." Warrick replied. He noticed Grissom walking down the corridor towards them; he was absent-mindedly flipping through some papers. "Hey man." Grissom looked up and registered the expression on Sara's face before talking. "You look happy."  
"Just cracked a case." She beamed. "We had the guy in there for all of five minutes before he confessed. Warrick didn't think he would." Sara gloated playfully.  
"Yeah and all it took was some 'gentle persuasion' on Sara's part." Warrick grinned, ignoring the dagger-sharp looks Sara was throwing at him. Grissom smiled, he knew all about Sara's method of 'gentle persuasion'. "Oh yeah." Sara sensed that the conversation was turning against her. "Are you having breakfast?" She casually tossed the question into the air. When her two male colleagues replied in the affirmative she beamed broadly, turn to Warrick and grinned. "I told you so." Then she turned on her heel and marched off down the corridor, leaving Grissom and a rather bemused Warrick staring after her.  
  
Later that week Grissom found Sara in the break room. She was looking through an old journal; obviously she was totally engrossed in her article because she didn't look up when he entered.  
"Coffee?" He offered, by way of a conversation starter. Sara didn't answer but held up her cup to show him that she was set. "I thought I sent you and Catherine home. I said I'd call you if anything came up."  
"Yeah. well, you never know when some thing's gonna happen." Sara put down her journal.  
"That's why you have a cell phone and a pager." Grissom tried. He wished he hadn't, Sara shot him a dirty look. "Umm. anyway, what are you reading?"  
"Nothing really." Sara replied, quickly shutting the journal as Grissom sat down at the table. "Can I help you?" Her tone made Grissom look up. "I was just wondering what you were looking at." He replied weakly. He always felt awkward talking to Sara, especially when it wasn't about a case. Luckily he was saved from further embarrassment by a page from Greg; his lab results were back.  
Shortly after he had left Sara drained the last of the cold, bitter dregs from her cup, rinsed it out and headed for home. It wasn't until she was two-thirds of the way there that she realized that she'd left her journal on the table.  
Grissom noticed the journal lying on the break room table as he stopped in to wash out his mug. Curiously he picked it up and flipped through a few pages. A small piece of paper marked the article he assumed Sara had been reading - something about photographing evidence. On the next page the paper was a little creased, as if the article had been repeatedly read and turned to. It gave the account of a case involving a young woman who had been beaten and how the evidence had originally been misread, allowing her attacker to go free. Seemed like something Sara would read, Grissom replaced the journal and slowly made his way to his car, not giving another thought to the matter.  
  
The following evening the team gathered in the break room, awaiting their cases. As Grissom entered the room Sara's cell phone rang, she promptly apologized and excused herself.  
"Okay. Nick, Warrick, you're still on your hit and run down on the strip. Your victim's at Desert Palms' should be up to talking now. We've got a tough one tonight. Young woman found beaten in her apartment." He handed out the sheets of paper containing their case details. Catherine, a word?"  
Nick and Warrick left exchanging furtive glances at one another.  
"Keep an eye on Sara for this one. I know she gets involved with all her cases, in one way or another, but I don't want her getting," he paused, searching for the right word. "Emotional." Catherine nodded and made her way out, Grissom meanwhile stood in the doorway waiting for Sara to return so that he could fill her in on the details. He could just make snippets of conversation coming from her and although he wasn't eavesdropping he couldn't help but make out words like 'dangerous' and 'restraining order'. Sara glanced up at him a couple of times and he was nervous that she would think he was trying to listen in. Leaving the door he quickly took a seat inside the break room.  
When Sara came in she looked a little flustered.  
"Okay?" Grissom asked cautiously.  
"Yeah." She replied quietly and took her notes. "Let's go."  
  
Once at the scene Grissom doled out jobs, Sara was taking the photographs. Grissom stood behind her as she examined the body.  
"She took a real beating," Sara noted, Grissom could hear the wobble in her voice. "She bit her nails, almost down to the cuticles, no hope of getting her attacker's DNA from there. Hang on." Sara noticed some dark hair caught in the victims ring. "Not her hair color, she's blonde." She decided moving out of the way so that she could bag it.  
Catherine was standing in the hallway with Brass and a couple of police officers listening to the boyfriend, Daniel Abbott, giving his statement. "It's so wrong. Why would anyone want to hurt her? God! We had an argument and I told her I needed some fresh air. If we hadn't fought. if I hadn't left her. this can't be happening."  
Sara looked up from photographing the young woman to see Catherine comforting the boyfriend in the hallway. "I'm gonna get him." Sara promised the corpse.  
Grissom noticed her talking to the corpse. It worried him when she did that; it was a sure sign that she was going to get too personally involved. He tried to push the thought from his mind and went back to dusting for prints along the open window to the fire escape. 'I could have pulled Nick or Warrick from their case.' He thought, noticing a fiber hooked onto a piece of splintered wood. 'She would have suspected though. She's not stupid.' He bagged his newly found evidence. 'No, avoiding it won't help. We just have to wrap this case up as quickly as possible.' He concluded eventually as Sara got up and made her way towards him.  
"Whatcha got?" She asked. Grissom held up the bag. "Blue fiber. From our attacker?" Grissom nodded but didn't look at her; he was staring at the window frame. The outside was dusty. "If our attacker used this as the way in or out the dust should have been disturbed." Sara didn't speak. She was calculating something. Carefully she took Grissom's bagged blue fiber and then moved to pick up the hairs she had found earlier. "Vic's blonde." She murmured. "These are black." Grissom watched as Sara stood by the doorway examining both samples, holding them up to the light to get a better look at them. Sara stopped focusing on the evidence and looked straight ahead of her and then walked straight into the corridor.  
"I should have gone after him or something, but Jessica was just there up against the wall. She wouldn't move. I let him get away, didn't I? I should have gone down the fire escape after him." Catherine did her best to comfort the man. He wiped away a few tears.  
Grissom watched as Sara stalked into the hallway, suddenly he caught up with what she was thinking. Daniel Abbott had black hair and he was wearing a blue sweater. He didn't need to guess what Sara was going to do and so he hurried out of the apartment after her.  
"You did this. Didn't you?" Sara yelled walking towards where Daniel was standing with Catherine and the assorted members of law enforcement. A confused look spread across Catherine's face as Sara drew closer. Grissom promptly grabbed both of her wrists from behind. "Don't do this Sara." He told her firmly, she flinched as he turned her around and half- dragged, half-led her back into the apartment. Sara had tears of frustration in her eyes and she pushed some loose hair away from her face. Grissom looked at her for a moment, she was expecting him to say something. Instead he simply laid a calming hand on her shoulder as he made his way past her and out of the apartment to inform Abbott that he was a suspect in their murder investigation.  
  
"She's been in an abusive relationship for some time." Al Robbins moved to show Grissom and Sara the X-rays. Grissom felt Sara tense beside him. "Multiple rib fractures, at varying stages of healing. Pulled her medical records as well, been into hospital three times in the past two months; broken wrist, a sprained ankle and a miscarriage." He pulled back the sheet to reveal a plethora of bruises. "Varying stages of healing." He pointed out the differences in color between the old, yellow, bruises and the new, angry red ones. "Help me turn her." They turned her over to reveal more bruises and some unusual marks on her back. Like the rest of her bruises these small wounds were at varying stages of healing. Sara didn't miss a beat. "Cigarette burns." Grissom looked at Al for confirmation and he nodded. "I did a sexual assault kit on her. She'd been raped." He sighed. "Couldn't get any DNA from her nails, but I did find some blue fibers in her mouth. Cause of death was suffocation; my guess is someone held something containing those blue fibers over her mouth. She'd already been beaten up pretty bad, probably too weak to fight back."  
"Thanks Doc." Grissom picked up their evidence and life. Sara paused for a moment at the doorway before continuing. "Are you sure you're okay on this case?"  
"Griss, I'm fine. I, I just don't like this." She told him weakly, putting on a fake smile.  
They met Catherine at the lab. The fiber from the window matched fibers from the sweater, but as Catherine pointed out Abbott would just argue that it could have gotten there at any time. Luckily the fibers from her mouth would give them something to work with, if they matched it would show that Abbott had suffocated his girlfriend.  
While they waited for their results Catherine, Grissom and Sara made their way to the break room. They had barely sat down when Sara's cell phone went off. She moved across the room and answered it.  
"Hello? Oh, hi Will." Catherine mouthed 'Will?' at Grissom. He shrugged his shoulders. "Yes. No Jasmine told me earlier. She phoned. I'm okay. I know. There's that, and he doesn't know I'm here." Grissom's ears pricked up and he recalled her earlier conversation when she'd mentioned the words 'dangerous' and 'restraining order'. "Look. Well, can I call you when I get home? Yeah, I'm at work, on a case. Yeah, thanks. You too."  
There was a brief silence when Sara resumed her seat at the table, she looked down and fiddled with her phone, feeling her older colleagues eyes on the top of her head.  
"Will?" Catherine asked, breaking the silence.  
"My brother." Sara replied, finally looking up. Her cheeks with flushed but the rest of her face was pale. She looked a little nervous about something. Grissom opened his mouth to speak but a chorus of pagers going off interrupted him. Their evidence was done.  
  
At the lab Greg had already lined up the fibers under the comparison microscope. Catherine grabbed it and stared down the lense.  
"A match." She exclaimed.  
"DNA from hair, semen and Abbott match too." He said handing Grissom the sheets. Sara read them over his shoulder.  
"Damn! I knew it." She murmured through gritted teeth. She turned and left the lab. Greg watched her go. "What's up with Sara?"  
"It's a tough case. She's. she'll be okay." Grissom told him. "Looks like we need to speak to Mr Abbott."  
  
Catherine entered the break room to see Sara sat alone in the corner. "Do you need a lift home?" She asked. Sara didn't answer. "Sara, you okay?"  
"Huh? I'm fine. Is the shift over? You got him, right? Abbott I mean."  
"Yeah, we got him. Sara, are you sure that you're okay?"  
"Yeah. Perfect. Just. I'm. Oh, never mind." Sara stuttered. There were few people in her life that she could open up to. Catherine definitely wasn't one of those people. Not looking back, she left the room.  
Once in her car it took her a few minutes to regain her composure. This had been a long, hard night. The next would be better. The sooner she got home, the sooner she could enter what counted for sleep in her world.  
  
Don't worry it gets better. Hopefully I should have the next chapter posted soon. Please read this and let me know what you think of it. Also I don't own these characters, they aren't mine. I'm just borrowing them because I'm too lazy to think up some of my own. Thanks. 


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey."  
"Hey Sara. I was expecting you to phone sooner. Did you just get in from work?"  
"Not exactly. I fell asleep when I got in." Sara trailed off.  
"How are you holding up?"  
"I'm fine." She lied. That wasn't fooling her brother.  
"Sara." He warned.  
"We had an assault case today. It was pretty bad. Her boyfriend," She faultered. "Her boyfriend beat her up, it had been going on for a awhile. Some of the bruises were weeks old. And she had scars. Scars from cigarette burns." Sara began to cry.  
"Oh Sara. You're really not okay. Are you?" Will wished he could be there with her to reassure her that everything would be okay. "Sara, does anyone there know? Have you told them?"  
"Will. No, how could I? You don't just tell people things like that."  
"Sara. Do you have anyone there that you can talk to?" Will understood his little sister's tendancy to shut herself off to the world around her.  
She was the complete opposite of him; mature whereas he was childish, smart while he didn't have a clue, as introverted as he was extroverted. He was sure that they couldn't be related, there must have been a hospital mix up.  
"Oh, come on Will."  
"What about one of your friends from work? I'm sure they'd understand." Will was desperately worried about Sara, she could hear it in his voice."  
"Will. I'll be fine. He probably doesn't even know I'm here."  
"Sara." Will pushed one last time, even though he knew she wouldn't give as easily as he would. Sara was stubborn.  
"Look. I'll be okay. I'll call you if I need anything."  
"Will you at least let me come see you?"  
"When?"  
"As soon as I can get the time off work."  
"Sure." They said their goodbyes and Sara hung up the phone. She should probably clear out the small bedroom for him, should, but probably wouldn't. Will was happy on the couch. Sara loved her brother and though they had been distant when they were younger they made up for it now. Despite the fact that they didn't talk as often as they could have, they shared a mutual trust and respect. It was just a shame that they were so far apart.  
  
Sara had pulled the curtains in an attempt to make the room dark enough to sleep in. Thin sheets of sunlight had forced their way into her room anyway. Eventually she gave up. She took a brief shower and made herself a sandwich, then settled down on the couch in front of the TV. She wasn't watching it, just like she wasn't eating her sandwich, but it felt like a normal thing to do. Finally she turned off the TV and dumped the sandwich in the bin, she hated to waste food but she really wasn't hungry and it wouldn't keep.  
Suddenly the phone rang. The shrill noise made her jump.  
"Hello?"  
"Hey Sara. It's Jasmine." A friend of the family. "How you doing?"  
"Fine. I spoke to Will earlier. He wants to come see me."  
"I'd offer to let you come here, but I'm sure you don't want that. Does anyone there know?" Sara sighed. Jasmine was very forward and not one to take a hint. "No. I don't know how to tell them."  
"Sara you should, you know. in case." Jasmine stopped herself there. She knew Sara didn't want to hear it. Quickly she changed the subject. "Have you spoken to your Mom?"  
"You know I can't."  
"Sara, maybe you should try. It's been long enough." Sara didn't want to have this conversation. She mumbled some excuse about work and hung up. Pensively she wandered over to the bookcase and picked out a book. A photo fell from it's pages. Sara picked it up, paled at the sight of it and dropped it onto the table with her unopened mail.  
Forty-five minutes later she was ready for work. She gathered her mail and stuffed it into her bag; she'd read it at work. She was going to be early anyway.  
  
Gil Grissom sat in his office. The amount of paperwork in front of him was daunting. That said, it was relatively sparse compared to some nights. He wasn't really thinking about the paperwork. He was running through the previous night's interrogation.  
"I never meant to make her angry. But I'd say something and that would set her off. Then I'd get mad. When I get mad it's like something just takes over. I lost control. She should have known to stay out of my way. But she had to keep pushing and pushing. So I hit her. But she wouldn't stop. She just kept going. So I held my hand over her face til she stopped."  
"Mr Abbott. If you were having that much trouble with her, why didn't you just leave?"  
"She was my girlfriend. I loved her." Grissom absent-mindedly signed another form before pushing back his chair and walking to the door.  
  
"So you got your hit and run guy, huh?" Catherine asked as Nick and Warrick entered the break room. Sara had been in there since she arrived, but she wasn't talking.  
"Guy turned himself in." Warrick informed her as he took a seat.  
"How'd your beaten wife go?" Nick asked while he fished something out of the fridge.  
"Girlfriend. Not wife." Catherine looked around. That was the most she'd heared Sara say all night. Had it been anyone else Catherine would have confronted them about it, but she found it difficult to talk to Sara. Maybe she should start trying.  
"Yeah. Well I don't get it. She was his girlfriend. They weren't married or anything. She could have just left him. Why put up with him." Nick continued.  
"Maybe it wasn't that easy." Both Catherine and Warrick noticed the croak in her voice. They exchanged surrepticious glances, both knew that Nick was heading onto unsafe ground.  
"Leaving an abusive boyfriend has got to be easier than leaving an abusive husband. If you're gonna beat a woman around like that then you're a coward. But for a woman to sit back and take it. I dunno, she could have done something if you ask me." Nick turned around to see Sara staring at him with a bitter look on her face. "Well I wasn't asking you." She told him harshly as she got up. Nick moved out of her way and began to stammer an apology. "You don't get it, do you Nick? She was in a relationship with him. She put herself out on the line and he hurt her. She couldn't just leave. She couldn't do that. No one knew, he was careful not to leae marks where people would see them. You don't bring those kinds of things up in civil conversation." Sara paused for a breath.  
"Sara. I'm sorry. I didn't think you." Nick began, Sara cut him off.  
"No! None of you do. None of you ever think about the victims. It's always 'solve the case, catch the bad guy'."  
"Sara. I. we." Catherine tried.  
"We got the bad guy, Sara." Warrick interjected firmly. "You got him. And you put him away."  
"That doesn't mean anything. In five years he'll be out. He'll be ready to do it again and then his victim'll have to start worrying again." This startled Catherine. "Sara. Daniel Abbott killed Jennifer. She'd dead. He can't hurt her anymore." She begand to get up. "Sara. Are you okay? You wanna talk, or."  
"Talking doesn't help." Sara replied before stalking out the door and heading down the corridor, pushing past Grissom as she went."  
"Hey Sara." He called after her, she waved him off, not even looking round at him.  
"Gil, there's something up with Sara." Catherine's voice was edged with worry. Behind her stood Nick and Warrick.  
"It's all my fault, man. I was talking about her case. I should have been more sympathetic. I wasn't thinking about what I was saying." Explained Nick.  
"What did you say?"  
"That her victim should have left her boyfriend. That she shouldn't have taken it."  
"I'll try talking to her. Here. Assignments." Grissom walked down the corridor in the direction that Sara had gone in. 'Catherine should be doing this', he though. 'I can't talk to people. I definitely can't talk to Sara'. He assumed that Sara had gone outside, that's where he went when he needed to have some space. He almost missed the figure hunched over a table in the A/V lab.  
"Sara. What're you doing in here?"  
"You heard, huh? Good news travels fast. Sara's cracked." Grissom moved towards the table. She'd been sorting her mail. Amongst the letters on the table was a photograph. As he leaned over to get a closer look at it Sara snatched it from the table and tore it in two. "Don't know how that got there. Thought I left it at home." Grissom realised that Sara was crying.  
"Sara? Something's bothering you."  
"Yeah." She mumbled. Part of her wanted to tell him the truth, to tell him everything, but the rest of her was screaming at her to shut up. She knew he'd look at her differently if she told. "I'll be fine. Honest." The look that Grissom gave her showed that he didn't believe a word that she said. She knew that being Grissom he wouldn't pursue it, but soon or later she would have to tell them the truth. Avoiding his gaze she began fumbling with the documents in front of her; bills mostly. The remains of the photograph were still on the table. Grissom just watched her. Sara picked up the two pieces and tore each one again, then stopped. She didn't know what to do with them, putting them into her bag would look stupid, but she was loathe to leave them at work where anyone might find them, even if they were in the trash. After a moment or so she made up her mind. Grissom was sitting close beside her, causing her to brush past him, she knew that his hand on her back was just to help her get by. It still made her jump, scattering the pieces to the floor.  
"Let me help you." He offered reaching for one of the pieces closest to him. It showed a younger Sara, in the piece beside it he could see a man's head.  
"No!" Sara snapped, grabbing it away from him. "I'm sorry Griss. I'm not myself today. It's. complicated." Grissom looked like there was something he wanted to say to her but he seemed to think better of it, instead he settled for, "come along to the break room when you're ready."  
  
Originally he had planned for Sara and Nick to deal with a 407 while Catherine, Warrick and himself took the 419. Mentally he did a quick re- shuffle of the groups only to find, once he returned to the break room, that they had done it themselves. Catherine and Nick had switched. Gil told the younger guys to go ahead to the car while he had a quick word with Catherine.  
"Go easy with her. She's really upset about something. I don't think Nick's to blame." He whispered before leaving Catherine to wait for Sara.  
"Okay. I'm all ready. What've wee got?" Sara appeared in the doorway sooner than Catherine was expecting.  
"Sure?"  
"Cath, I'm fine."  
"'Kay. 407. Guy broke into some woman's house. She saw him driving away. Let's go talk to her." Catherine informed Sara, looking at the sheet. Sara promptly put on her best fake smile and let Catherine lead the way out.  
  
"Grissom. Is Sara okay?" Nick was the first to speak when Grissom got into the car. "I should apologise." For a moment Grissom didn't answer. "Yeah. Nick, apologise to her. Just don't expect a big response." He'd tried to say it gently but it had come off rather harsh. In the back seat Nick hung his head. Grissom started up the engine. "You know Sara. If it's big, she'll let us know about it. If it isn't, she'll get over it." But even as he said the words he realised that he didn't know Sara as well as he could have done. Did any of them?  
  
Okay, so you've probably guessed what's up with Sara by now. Sorry if it's a little slow moving, it is my first CSI fan fic. Please read this and let me know what you think of it. Also I don't own these characters, they aren't mine. I'm just borrowing them because I'm too lazy to think up some of my own. Thanks. 


	3. Chapter 3

"So you got drunk. Went home. Then, after breaking in, you realized that it wasn't your home. So you left?" Sara asked the disheveled bearded man opposite her.  
"Uh-huh."  
"Then you drove across town, no less than ten miles, to your actual home, where you didn't bother going inside. So you slept in your truck."  
"I'd already made the mistake once. I wasn't going to do it again."  
"Mistake? You kicked in her door." Catherine stated. Her voice suggested that she was annoyed but she was actually quite enjoying this case. Mr. Valancez' records had been easy to pull; he had a prior drink driving offence. The woman whose house he'd broken into had got a good long look at his license plate as he'd driven away - at twelve miles per hour. Compared to yesterday's case this was quite fun.  
"I'll buy her a new door." Mr. Valancez pleaded.  
"And what about your new drink driving offence?" Brass interrupted. Catherine watched the smirk on Sara's face as Brass explained to Mr. Valancez what happened to people who repeatedly drove whilst drunk.  
  
"Cath. Could you pour me some coffee. I'll be along in a minute." Sara headed into the locker room, while Catherine headed off for refreshments. Sara wasn't surprised to find Nick inside.  
"I'm sorry about earlier, Nick, I shouldn't have blown up at you like that." That caught Nick off guard. He'd been prepared to apologize first.  
"Yeah. Well. It was my fault really. I started it all. I should really learn to keep my mouth shut." Sara gave him a small smile. "Catherine's making coffee. You coming?"  
"Hah! You bet." Nick replied thinking how good it was to be friends again.  
  
Grissom noticed that as they shared coffee in the break room Sara seemed like her usual self. Except for at certain moments when she caught his eye and he realized that there was a part of her which she was keeping hidden from him and the rest of the team. He had secrets, they all did, but he had a feeling that whatever it was that Sara had been trying to hide had been awoken. Now it was ebbing away at her judgments, her beliefs. As Grissom caught her eye once more he noticed a sadness there and he suddenly realized that her 'little outburst' was just a taster of what was to come.  
  
Sara watched the conversation between her colleagues unfold. To begin with she was silent, not talking, just listening. But someone said something - Catherine? Warrick? - and she opened up. Nick was still feeling guilty about her moment earlier, she could tell, he was agreeing with everything she said. Profusely. Had it been anyone else she probably would have objected, told them to shut up. Not Nick though. She enjoyed the way that he teased her. She liked how he could be totally honest and just say what he wanted. She liked their sibling rivalry, something she'd never shared with her brother. She sighed and gripped her coffee cup. Nick was a friend, just not the sort that you opened up to. He was the friend you took to baseball games and went to movies with. He was just Nick.  
  
When the conversation and the coffee had dried up each person went their own separate way. Nick had a breakfast date. Warrick was due in court. Catherine had Lindsey. Grissom had paper work still waiting for his signature. Sara had an empty apartment and two messages on her answering machine. She blinked at the flashing red light. Maybe it was broken.  
"Hey Sara. Call me when you get this. Sorry if Jasmine's been harassing you. Let me know how things are going. Will."  
"Hey Sara. Will again. Don't phone me til after lunch, okay? Won't be in. Sorry."  
Both messages from her brother. She sighed with relief. Jasmine was nice but she was too persistent and too often her pushes were in the wrong direction. Sara took a long shower and flopped onto her bed with still-wet hair. She wasn't planning to sleep but she dozed off anyway. Almost immediately she found herself in the same old nightmare.  
She was happy. Comfortable. She could smell his aftershave. She complimented him on it. The phone rang. It was Will. They talked for too long. Will went. Then he started to get mad. She begged, pleaded with him. He wouldn't listen. He hit, pushed, kicked, swore. Not touching her face.  
Never her face. The pain in her arm as he twisted it, pulling her. His breath, warm and strong. She could feel him all over her. Then he was gone. She woke up in a cold sweat and immediately took another shower. She could still feel his hands on her skin.  
  
Catherine wandered around feeling bored. Lindsey was in bed with a cold. She'd been coughing and sneezing for a few days but now she had the works; sore throat, cough, temperature. Jeremy, her nephew, had it as well so that meant that her sister couldn't watch both children. Resignedly she picked up the phone and dialed Grissom's number.  
"Grissom?"  
"Hey Gil. Did I wake you?"  
"No. I was watching my cockroaches mate."  
"Oh. I'm. sorry I asked." She paused for a moment trying to remember why she was phoning him. "I don't think I'll be able to come in tonight."  
"Huh? Why?"  
"Lindsey's sick. My sister can't watch her. I promise it's just for one night."  
"Sure. Okay. It's fine. In tomorrow?"  
"Sure. Great. Thanks Gil."  
"No problem." Catherine shuddered as she hung up, knowing that Grissom was probably back to watching his cockroaches mating by now. Gross. He was one of those people who, if he found a cockroach in his restaurant meal, he'd ask for a tub and some beef jerky to keep it alive. She felt guilty for not going to work, it couldn't be helped and Grissom had been okay with her not being there. She checked in on Lindsey who was now sleeping peacefully, before settling down on the couch with a magazine.  
  
It was one of those cases. One which kept on leading them round and round in circles. Nick and Grissom's case wasn't easy, but it wasn't as bad a the one Warrick and Sara had been assigned. A woman had gone missing; no body and lots of boyfriends. As Sara pointed out most of them were pretty shady with backgrounds of drugs, assault, robbery, various traffic offences as well as other, numerous, convictions, some of them going back over two decades.  
They'd finally managed to catch a lead. Stu Ryan, had been seen with Eloise Huntley - the victim - the night that she disappeared, Brass had got hold of a warrant and he took Sara along to Ryan's place while Warrick stayed back at the garage to study Ryan's van. Inside Ryan's apartment they found a spaced out Eloise Huntley and an incredibly high Stu Ryan. Having solved their missing woman case Brass decided to get them both on possession of an illegal substance and ordered that both of them should be arrested. It was at this time that a fight broke out between Ryan and his arresting officer. Sara was on the phone to Warrick to inform him of the new development when the fight broke out and some how she managed to end up in the middle of it. The result; a black eye. Almost instantly she recalled the only time he had ever hit her face. That had been the night she left. That was the night she had gone to the car and driven across town to Will's apartment. That was the night when she. Brass looked over to see Sara backing up against the wall and slowly sliding down it, holding the left side of her face. In an almost paternal gesture he helped her up and walked her back to the car.  
"He hit me." Sara said wide-eyed, hand still on cheek.  
"Let me see. Maybe we should get you to a hospital. Get it checked out." Brass tried to see where she'd been hit, already an angry bruise was forming at the tips of her fingers.  
"No. I'm fine. Really. We should get back." Brass hesitated. He didn't want to argue with her and at the end of the day it was up to her. Sara had every right to refuse hospital treatment and she didn't appear to be in any great deal of pain. He started up the engine telling himself that Sara was a big girl and that she could look out for herself.  
  
Back at CSI, after the shift, Sara sat waiting for a lift home. Although she had refused hospital treatment she wasn't stupid, so she had been to see Dr. Robbins, the coroner. He'd told her that there didn't appear to be any serious damage but that it was likely that there would be some bruising and swelling. He recommended that she take a couple of painkillers and put an ice pack on it, then he stressed that if the bruising, swelling, or pain got too bad that she really should go to the hospital.  
She'd taken two painkillers, then she realized that she couldn't drive home so she was waiting. Warrick had promised to give her a ride but he was still trying to explain to Eloise Huntley's husband what had happened to his wife. She was about to give up and call a cab, even though she thought that they were highly overpriced and hated using them, when Nick walked in.  
"Woah. What happened to you?" He gasped seeing her face. "You look terrible."  
"Thanks Nick."  
"No, really, what happened?" She gave him a lop-sided smile. His concern for her was cute.  
"Nothing. I just got in the way during an arrest."  
"Well did you go to the hospital?" Nick was still trying to make up for what he'd said the previous day.  
"No. I had Al Robbins check me out. I'm fine really. Just waiting for Warrick." Nick gave her a look which questioned why she needed to wait for Warrick. "He's giving me a ride home. Strong painkillers. Can't drive." She told him, waving the box of painkillers in his direction.  
"Well you look like you should be home now. Come on." She didn't see the point in arguing with him, after all, a lift was a lift. Nick helped her into the car, checked that she was strapped in, asked if she needed any more painkillers and generally fussed over her. In the end Sara had to ask him to stop before she did something she'd regret. Although his behavior was kind of sweet. He even saw her to the door, giving her instructions to have a 'nice warm meal', 'get plenty of sleep' and to 'not worry about work'.  
When she finally managed to get him out of her apartment she did none of these things. Instead she lay down with her feet on the couch and a damp washcloth over her eye. The painkillers had made her nauseous, she couldn't sleep and despite the fact that Brass, Nick and Warrick knew about her getting punched (and therefore, everyone else would soon know about it) she didn't relish the fact that she'd have to repeatedly explain to people what happened. In the end the couch became too uncomfortable and so she moved to the bed, even there he couldn't get settled. If she lay on her left side, with her face pressed into the pillow, she found herself in pain. Laying on her other side was fine but as her back was sore from lying on the couch it wasn't the best option. In the end it had to do and against her will she drifted into sleep.  
  
Thanks for reading this, sorry it's a bit late, I've been kind of busy this week. I'm trying to work in some cases but this story is more about me exploring what I can do with the characters and getting a feel for writing with them. I am in the process of writing another fan fic which is more centered around an actual case. Please read this and let me know what you think of it. Also I don't own these characters, they aren't mine. I'm just borrowing them because I'm too lazy to think up some of my own. Thanks. 


	4. Chapter 4

A shrill ringing pierced her dreams and caused Sara to jerk herself awake. Groggily she picked up the receiver ans held it to her ear.  
"Hello?"  
"Hey."  
"Oh. Hi Will. You woke me up."  
"Oh sorry, I can call again later if you want."  
"It's okay. I needed to get up and take some more painkillers anyway."  
"Painkillers? What happened?" Came her brother's alarmed response. Sara explained what had happened that night. Will waited until she had finished before asking. "You are pressing charges, right?"  
"Will. The guy was high as a kite. He didn't know wht he was doing. I'm fine really." As usual this didn't convince Will, Sara was avoiding his questions. "Spoke to Mom last night," he told her. "She was asking after you."  
"Yeah. What did she say?" Sara snorted. Will realised that maybe mentioning their mother hadn't been the most tactful thing to do.  
"Oh nothing much. Asking if I'd heard from you. How you were. The usual thing."  
"She wanted to know if I was going back. She wants me to go back and see him again. Doesn't she?" Sara's tone scared Will, she sounded desperate.  
"Hey. Don't worry. I told her that you were fine where you were." He tried to soothe her.  
"She's gonna tell him where I am, she'll give him my address or something. I can't see him again, Will, I really can't." Will sighed and wished that there was something more that he could do for his little sister. What use was he if he couldn't protect her? He'd seen her that night; black eye, cut lip, bleeding nose. He'd promised her that it would be okay. She'd started afresh. Twice. Once in San Francisco and once in Las Vegas. She didn't need to be worrying about these things. The earliest that he could get off work wouldn't be for another week. For the second time in three days he pleaded with his little sister to tell one of her work colleagues before hanging up to get on with work.  
  
"Brass told me what happened." Sara looked up. Grissom was standing before her.  
"It's nothing really." She tried to cover the bruising with her hand but failed. "I'm fine. Grissom sat down beside her and stroked a loose strand of hair away from the area. Sara just watched him warily. She could handle this. He was an old friend. Someone she felt safe with and could trust. Maybe she could tell him.  
He looked closely at the bruising. The guy had to of hit her with some force, but she wasn't bothered about it. That said, he wasn't one of those people who could read emotions, but he knew Sara was hiding something. Quickly he stood up.  
"As long as you're okay."  
"I'm fine," Sara repeated. She wasn't. For those few seconds that he had touched her cheek she'd felt safe but now his touch was gone and she felt alone and scared.  
"Sara. I tried calling you cell. Thought you might want a life in." Warrick told her as he entered the room with Catherine and Nick.  
"Got a cab. I'll be okay to drive today. I'm off the painkillers." She shrugged, deciding not to tell them that the pain was just as bad but the painkillers made her feel ill. Catherine was the only one who registered that there had been something going on between Gil and Sara before they entered the room. She knew how they felt about one another. Not that it wasn't hard to see. Grissom had told her that he met Sara at a seminar he had given and, although she'd never said anything to him about her suspicions, she had a feeling that something may have gone on between them.  
Gil didn't want to say anything to Sara but he decided when he saw her that she wouldn't be out in the field that shift. The bruise wasn't that bad, but it wasn't that good either and she looked so tired. He decided to let her have an easy night, to let her have an opportunity to get over whatever it was that she wasn't telling him. In the end he gave her the task of trying to identify a number which a called their corpse - Brian Henderson - seventeen times. Every time the line had been held for mere seconds before the call ended. Understandably this annoyed Sara a little who felt up to doing field work like the others, especially as Nick was getting his own case that night, but she didn't push it, she had a feeling that if she did then Grissom would send her home.  
  
"Well it's a Las Vegas number but when we ring it no one answers. Looked it up and it belongs to a Miss Stephanie Succo. Brass is looking into it." Sara told Catherine as she checked in to see how Sara was getting on. "I did find something interesting. Out of curiosity I checked Mr Henderson's work phone records. Same number showed up - one hundred and seven times - Mr Henderson worked in that big office block down town, the one that deals with international-something. Anyway, not relevant. What does matter is that they began recording employee phone calls last week, something to do with motivation, which means that the longest phonecall made to Mr Henderson, number one hundred and four, is on tape. Listen to this.2  
"Brian. You should just do as I say. It'll work out the best in the long run. Please." Sounded a crackly female voice.  
"This is blackmail. I'll call the police." An edgy sounding man replied.  
"No you won't, Brian. That's not wise. Just think carefully. Take a deep breath and do it."  
"You won't get away with this. It's not fair."  
"No Brian. What you're foing to me isn't fair. What's I'm doing to you is pay back." Then the line went dead.  
"Anyway. When a woman blackmails a guy it's usually for one of three things; scandal, pictures or money. I went with money. Get this - Mr Henderson embezzled roughly four grand from his company last month. His boss knew about it and e-mailed him this rather threatening message." Catherine read the message. It sounded rather dangerous, including death threats and promises of 'embarrassing secrets becoming public knowledge'.  
"Sara. Oh hi Catherine." Brass walking in with a piece of paper. "Turns out Miss Succo has been phoning our victim because of child support issues. Miss Succo's son is also Mr Henderson's son and he hasn't been paying up."  
"Despite the money he's taken from work." Catherine concluded. "Maybe you should pay his boss, Matthew Egal, a visit and ask him about this." She told Brass handing him a copy of the e-mail. I'll get my coat, it looks like a motive to me."  
"Can I come with you?" Sara asked.  
"Sara, I don't think that's a good idea. Grissom wanted you off field work tonight. Why don't you take a break until something else comes up? I'll let you know."  
Sara patiently waited until Catherine had left before growling and heading down to the locer room to retrieve her book. At the back of her locker was a mirror, she couldn't remember how long ago she'd tucked it there. Now she noticed it, or rather, she noticed herself in the reflection. The face looking back at her was one that she'd seen years ago. Same dark hair framing her face. Same pale skin. Same livid purple bruise beside her eye. The weight that she'd put on since then was negligible. The only difference was her eyes. They showed that she had matured, she'd moved on, grown up. Sara pushed the mirror to the back of her locked and headed for the break room, forgetting her book.  
  
She heard the door slam. He was back. Quickly she three her book to the  
floor and switched off the lamp. If he thought thse was asleep maybe he  
wouldn't bother her. The room became suddenly light. She could hear him stumbling around the room, cursing, the drunken slur in his voice, but she didn't dare open her eyes. The mattress sagged and she felt cool air rush  
in as he settled beside her. A hand ran over a bruised arm. He began  
kissing her neck, she couldn't help but flinch away. Then the shouting began. He knew she was awake. Then it really started. She knew it was going  
to happen because he lowered his voice to a barely audible, dangerous,  
hissing whisper. His face was close to hers, alcohol on his breath. She  
felt his hand in her hair, forcing her head back so she'd look at him. Pulling her out of bed, throwing her against the wall so that her back and neck stung. Then the blows rained down upon her chest and abdomen and once  
again she found herself wondering if this was if, if in the morning she  
would be on the coroners table with all her colleagues looking at her sympathetically. She could shut herself off to his fists, if he kept at it  
long enough all the pain merged and became a dull ache. Then eventually  
he'd leave and when he'd return, sober and crying, he'd beg for her to forgive him. She had to, last time she'd refused he'd poured scalding hot coffee over her wrist. Trying to fight him off her was pointless too, that just earned her harsher blows. Finally he left. She wanted to leave too. To  
drive across town to Will - where she'd be safe. He already suspected something. She began to sit up. A jolt of pain caused her stomach to twist  
and she threw up. Sara opened her eyes and retched. Then she realised where she was - safe, at work.  
"Sara. Are you okay?" She looked up. Grissom was standing beside the padded chair that she'd dozed off in. "Mmm." She replied. She could still feel that knot in her stomach and didn't want to tempt fate by talking.  
"You looked like you were having a bad dream. A nightmare?"  
"Really. Grissom. I'm fine." She adjusted her position, she'd felt too vunerable the way that she'd been slouched in the chair with Grissom towering above her. He slowly lowered himself until he was on her level.  
"Who's Jeff?" He asked looking her in the eye. Sara hesitated. Had she said his name? Called it out the way she did when she was begging for him to stop? If she had, then what else about her past had she given away? "I dunno." She told him knowing that she'd paused for too long for him to believe her.  
"Come on." He took her arm gently but firmly. She flinched a little but then forced herself to relax.  
"Where are we going? What about the shift?"  
"Shift ended twenty minutes ago. We're getting breakfast. I need to eat and you need to talk."  
  
Firstly, thanks to Rhi for reading this, you know how hard it was for me to write. Secondly thanks to everyone else. Remember to let me know what you think of it because what you say influences what I write. Please read this and let me know what you think of it. Also I don't own these characters, they aren't mine. I'm just borrowing them because I'm too lazy to think up some of my own. Thanks. 


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